Ever since Ron Howard started pushing for an adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, there was a plan to include a companion TV series. Well, that TV series is now moving forward and details have been revealed about what that series will entail!

MRC and Sony Pictures have already committed to financing a full season of between 10 and 13 episodes. The number of episodes depends on how the scripts and story arcs develop. They still don't have a distributor, but I don't think it will be an issue finding one.

The series will be based on King's Wizard and Glass, which provides an epic backstory that focuses on a younger version of gunslinger Roland Deschain and his early tribulations. It centers around "Roland and his ka-tet of fate-forged allies, including the boy Jake, listening to the story of the gunslinger’s past while preparing for the next leg of their journey." EW goes on to explain:

In this framing device for the book, they are camped within reach of a “thinny,” which is a kind of aurora where reality has eroded and people who draw too close can be consumed like it’s a black hole. Roland tells his new friends of his first encounter with such a thing, unspooling a tale about being sent by his father on a mission to the Barony of Mejis, a distant seaside kingdom in the same dimension as his homeland of Gilead.

Idris Elba is set reprise his role as an older Roland as is Tom Taylor, who plays Jake Chambers. The report goes on to explain that:

That duo will serve as the framing device for the show’s central story, which takes place many years before the events depicted in the film. Since the series will be Roland’s origin story, a younger actor will be cast to play the aspiring gunslinger as a teenager, back before the realm of Mid-World 'moved on' into chaos and bloodshed.

There's no word on if Matthew McConaughey will reprise his role as the villainous Man in Black, but the character plays a major part in Roland’s origin story. The sorcerer often takes on different names and appearances in King's stories, so if they needed another actor to play him, it wouldn't be an issue.

Throughout the course of the story, "Roland reveals how he fell for the beautiful Susan Delgado, and later tested the faith of his original ka-tet — friends Alain Johns and Cuthbert Allgood." When talking about the show, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman says:

“In the movie, Roland is suffering tremendous loss. The most concrete, personal, existential heartbreak a character can have. If the movie chronicles his final reach toward hope again, the TV show is the loss of that hope. This one has much more fidelity to the story as King wrote it."

So it seems as if this series is going to be more of a straightforward adaptation, which I think fans will be very happy about. If the movie and this first season of the TV series go over well with audiences, there's a good chance that they will continue the story with more film sequels and seasons of the show.

The Dark Tower series will start shooting in 2017 and it will most likely premiere it in 2018.

Below, you will find a map that was released that "demarcates the various towns and landmarks within the territory of Mejis: the capital, Hambry, along the Clean Sea; Coos Hill, home of the witch, Rhea; Citgo, the oil fields that could help fuel an army; Bad Grass, the toxic meadowlands; and Eyebolt Canyon, where a different thinny cries out for victims."

Joey Paur — Co-Founder / Editor of GeekTyrant.com, and if you haven't noticed I write… a lot. Movies are my passion and I live and breathe all things geek. This site is part of my life's work, it's a part of me. I love what I do, and I enjoy sharing everything I can with you when it comes to movies and geekery. In my spare time I travel to the netherworlds to battle demons. @JoeyPaur | joeypaur@geektyrant.com